Transformation · lines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
Passivity becomes Small Things
What this change means
Wind moves across the heavens: five lines move, and only the fourth stays as it was. The reading looks to that lone still line of the resulting hexagram, 9 Small Things. It says fair conduct may run into trouble early on, yet the obstacles thin out gradually until the goal is reached. The situation promises success, but the time isn't fully ripe. Obstacles still need resolving. For now, small steps are enough, while you wait for the moment to work on a bigger scale. So keep your conduct fair, even when it seems to cost you early on. Refine what you can. Don't rush the big step. Patience and fairness, the oldest strengths of the receptive, tend to wear down resistance gently, one small gain at a time.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 4 of 9 Small Things, which stays still
If you act fairly, you may meet difficulties at first, but little by little the obstacles will fade until you reach your goal.
There is sincere trust. The blood goes, the fear leaves. No fault.
- The judgment of 2 Passivity
This is not the time to take the initiative to achieve things. It's better to let others guide you and to keep at your projects with patience.
Great success. The constancy of a mare is favorable. The noble person has somewhere to go: going ahead, they lose the way; following behind, they find someone to guide them. It is favorable to find friends in the southwest and to lose them in the northeast. Calm constancy brings good fortune.
- Line 1 of 2 Passivity
Things can decline without anyone noticing. It's time to take precautions so the decline doesn't become total.
Frost underfoot. Firm ice is on its way.
- Line 2 of 2 Passivity
Quietly, without a lot of fuss, you can succeed.
Straight, square, great. Without learning it, nothing that is not favorable.
- Line 3 of 2 Passivity
What you do with perseverance and without showing off will be appreciated and recognized.
Holding its brightness within; it can stay constant. If it serves in the king's affairs, no achievement of its own, but a good end.
- Line 5 of 2 Passivity
Right now success depends on acting with reserve. Your light shines from within.
A yellow skirt. Great good fortune.
- Line 6 of 2 Passivity
It's not the time to lead; it's the time to follow. Trying to take a leading position now will bring retaliation on you that affects everyone.
Dragons fight in the open country. Their blood is dark and yellow.
- The judgment of 9 Small Things
You're facing a situation that promises success, but it isn't time yet. There are still obstacles on the way that you need to resolve. For now you can take small actions and wait for the right moment to act on a large scale.
Success. Dense clouds and no rain, from my western outskirts.
The trigrams
The way back
9 Small Things → 2 Passivitylines 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6
Other transformations of Passivity
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.